By Ananda Teresia
JAKARTA, May 10 (Reuters) – Two Singaporean nationals missing following the eruption of Mount Dukono on Indonesia’s Halmahera island were confirmed dead on Sunday, the local rescue agency said.
Rescuers found the bodies holding each other under rock debris around the crater rim, agency head Iwan Ramdani said.
The bodies were retrieved in a difficult operation due to extreme terrain and rainfall, he said, and were undergoing autopsy in a local hospital.
The evacuation was also hampered by persistent eruptions, he added.
Some 150 personnel with two thermal drones had been deployed since Sunday morning, Iwan said, with the focus to search around 100-150 metres (350-500 feet) of the crater rim.
Mount Dukono in North Maluku province bordering the Pacific Ocean began erupting on Friday, spewing ash as high as 10 km (6 miles). It has continued to erupt at a lower scale.
The search operation has now concluded, Iwan said.
Rescuers on Saturday confirmed that one Indonesian hiker, who had gone missing, was dead.
Seventeen people, including seven Singaporeans and 10 Indonesians, survived the incident.
The seven surviving Singaporeans will fly home on Sunday, Singapore’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It was unclear when the bodies of the two who died will be returned.
Indonesia’s volcanology agency reported at least four eruptions as of Sunday, with one sending ash 1.3 km high. The agency is maintaining its third-highest alert level for Mount Dukono and has banned any activities within 4 km (2.5 miles) of the crater.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Kim Coghill, William Mallard and Christina Fincher)
